


Bleed To Love Her

by AWitchWrites, vampirexchild



Category: Gerard Way and the Hormones, Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Artist Gerard Way, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vampire Lindsey Ballato
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-01-20 00:03:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12420933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWitchWrites/pseuds/AWitchWrites, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vampirexchild/pseuds/vampirexchild
Summary: "And once again she calls to meThen she vanishes in thin airAnd how she takes my breath awayPretending that she's not thereOh I would bleed to love her"- Bleed To Love Her - Fleetwood Mac





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a new Gerard/Lindsey fic that vampirexchild and I are working on & we're super excited for it so let us know what you think! This first chapter was written by me. Hope you guys like it!

_ “In the beginning, she was stunning and pure _

_ When he first saw her, he fainted to the floor _

_ She was distant and arrogant from the start, _ __   
_ She did not see the fragile state of his heart _ __   
_ She fell in love with him, on that very day _ __   
_ She became softer, in every way _ __   
_ Even though they were so in love, _ __   
_ She drew a line in the sand, just because _ __   
_ They did not know each other, they did not trust _ _   
_ __ The only thing that they did together, was to make love” - Wide Sargasso Sea - Stevie Nicks

 

Art shows were some of Gerard’s favourite places to be. The people were pretentious (sometimes) and the critics weren’t always that great; the crowds made him anxious and showing his own art even more so but still, Gerard loved it. Seeing his art, that he’d spent months working on, hung up on the walls of a gallery, watching people look at them, made it all worthwhile; even if he didn’t sell anything. Seeing other people’s art was even better most of the time. It was beyond inspiring to walk through the galleries, taking his time and looking at pieces that took his breath away; images of cityscapes, landscapes, French abstract pieces that he couldn’t help but buy whenever he saw them, colour after colour splashed across canvas until they blurred together. Those were Gerard’s favourites but he loved it all. He loved art. Art had been pretty much all he’d had for a long time, it’d gotten him through some pretty dark times and now here he was, 40 years old, doing what he loved and getting ready for another art show, on where he was lucky enough to show his own art and discover other people’s. It was a shared exhibit, at a place he had shown some pieces before; a small collection of artists were being featured that night, just him and about two others. 

Gerard sighed as he tugged on the ends of his shirt sleeves one last time, giving himself a once over in the mirror in front of him. He’d done this countless times before, and still each time made him just as nervous as the first time. It wasn’t as bad and nowadays it was just the crowds and having to deal with actually talking to the people that turned up that made him so anxious but he always got through it. He supposed it would be strange if he wasn’t nervous over it really; art shows were still a big deal to him no matter how many he’d been featured in over the years. He was just nervous because he cared about it. The thought made him smile to himself in the mirror as it usually did and he smoothed down the front of his jacket before turning to grab his bag, knowing he’d have to hurry if he didn’t want to be late. His agent had made it very clear to him in the past that just because it was his art in the gallery, that didn’t mean he could turn up whenever he wanted. So he’d made a habit to turn up early; he liked to get there before everyone else did. Technically he didn’t have to, all he had to do was turn up in time for when the doors opened to the public, but Gerard had learnt he liked to get there before that. He liked to walk around the gallery just once after everything had been organised and hung up (he still let his agent deal with all that) when there were no people around trying to get a look at everything, when he could just walk around on his own and take his time before he had to deal with selling everything. Having that time alone in the galleries always helped to calm his nerves a little too. 

So he left his house early, making his way to the venue about half an hour or so before he really needed to. Luckily the venue wasn’t too far from his house so it didn’t take him too long to get there. The place was smaller than he remembered it being which should have put his nerves to rest a little but for some reason, that night he just couldn’t shake them, even as he stood alone, smoking in the cool evening light outside the gallery. Late evening shows usually weren’t his favourite; it always meant having to drive home in the dark afterwards which was never fun and being around large crowds was draining enough as it was let alone after already being tired from rushing around getting things ready during the day. But a show was a show and he couldn’t turn one down just because of the time; besides he’d actually needed the few extra hours to get a few last minute things done. 

Still, despite his nerves and the timing of the show, Gerard was still looking forward to it. These paintings had taken so much work and he couldn’t quite believe they were finally going to get to see the light of day, that he’d actually managed to finish them. He’d been working on them so long, for months, that he’d started to doubt people would ever get to see them at all. And he was proud of himself, more so than he had been in the past. These paintings were probably his best work yet, which probably also explained why he was so fucking nervous and why he couldn’t seem to force himself to walk inside. He wanted to, he really did, but still couldn’t seem to move as he stood there, looking at the entrance to the building, even as the last of his cigarette burnt out. It was only when it reached his fingertips that Gerard was shocked into action, dropping it with a sigh, and taking one last deep breath before making his way inside. 

The gallery was almost exactly the same as the last time he had shown some art there. The layout was mostly the same and the walls were the same pristine white colour, clean and bright. It really helped the place look bigger than it was and the fact the place was mostly empty still helped too. There were a couple people standing around; the other artists and their agents plus a few gallery workers but none of them paid much attention to Gerard was he walked in. All of them too focused on their own prep work. He barely had time to glance over at them himself before his agent rushed over to him. Gerard was a little startled at first when he saw her rushing towards him but quickly realised he’d probably wasted all the time he usually spent looking around at all the other art outside smoking instead. He sighed again when he realised that and made his way over to his agent. 

It took longer than he’d thought it would for him to get a quiet moment to himself. Gerard had almost forgotten how hectic art shows could get. At first he’d been pulled aside by his agent to work on some final details until the doors opened. And when they did, it was busier than Gerard had anticipated; on the verge of being overcrowded but not quite. Still, the steady crowd of people was enough to make his palms sweaty and his hands shake slightly. And more people than he’d been expecting had wanted to talk to him. Of course, his agent was there to handle the actual sales of his pieces so he was able to direct people asking him questions about that to her straight away but some people just wanted to talk to him about his art. Some were old friends he hadn’t been in touch with for a while, which was awkward but not so bad, some were close friends that Gerard had no problems talking to and some were people he’d never even met before. There hadn’t been a single moment that he’d been left alone for more than a minute, no opportunity to sneak out for a cigarette let alone disappear into the crowd to look around. 

Things took a while to calm down but eventually they did and Gerard was left standing alone in front of his work, given space to breathe and just stop for a moment for the first time that night. Granted, he wasn’t truly alone, the gallery was still filled with people, it was just that none of them were talking to him right then. The thought of slipping outside for a smoke crossed his mind, he was sure that this would be one of his only chances all night and he didn’t want to waste it. So he turned to head towards one of the side doors, catching a glimpse of the main entrance as he did and stopping in his tracks when he did. 

She caught his eye straight away, even through the crowd. She stood at the far end of the gallery, just by the main entrance, clearly having only just arrived. Her pale skin was almost illuminated by the bright lights of the gallery, such a contrast to the long black dress she wore and the black hair the framed her face. Her lips were blood red and her eyes so dark that Gerard couldn’t tell what colour they actually were from that distance. Gerard was frozen still as he watched her step gracefully further inside the building. Beautiful was an understatement; he couldn’t tear his eyes away and his fingers twitched by his sides, whether from the sudden urge to draw her or the anxiety making his craving for a cigarette even stronger, Gerard didn’t know. He was torn between rushing out for a cigarette right then; saving himself from any potential embarrassment caused on the slight chance that she spoke to him; or staying where he was since he was convinced she wouldn’t even notice him anyway. 

In the few moments it took for him to make a decision, the woman had disappeared from her spot by the entrance, lost somewhere in the crowd. Gerard was almost convinced that he had made her up entirely when he scanned the crowd and saw no sign of her. He supposed he should have known she was too beautiful, ethereal even, to be real. A figment of his imagination brought on by stress and exhaustion. 

Sighing, he turned back to look at his work again, fully prepared to go outside for that cigarette he had been craving and to just stay out there until someone came to find him or the show finished, whichever happened first. Except, that wasn’t what happened, and instead, Gerard was faced with the shock of his life when he turned only to see the woman he had been so enamoured with standing right next to him. She was looking up at his piece with a slight smile and Gerard jumped when he first saw her, worried for a moment that he really was seeing things, not sure how else she could have made it through the crowd from the entrance to right beside him so quickly and unnoticed. But a small group of people walked past them then, one bumping into her where the place was pretty crowded before they quickly apologised and carried on walking, proving that Gerard wasn’t imagining her. She was real. Gerard blushed deeply and looked away when he realised he had been gawking at her like a teenager. She remained silent though; they were both silent for a handful of seconds and Gerard didn’t have time to agonise over something to say for very long. As soon as he looked away from her, she broke the silence. 

“Beautiful.” Was all she said but it was enough to have Gerard stunned by how melodic and sweet her voice was. 

“Yes.” He agreed before he had a chance to think about it. When he remembered it was his own work they were standing in front of and that it was the art she was talking about, he blushed even more and shook his head, “I- I mean...thank you.” He corrected himself quickly, biting his lip and fiddling with the edges of his sleeves as he looked down at the floor. 

The mystery woman just laughed softly and Gerard could feel her eyes on him a moment later. “This is yours….?” She asked when he looked back up at her and tucked his hair behind his ear, clearly trying to ask his name. 

“Oh. Yes.” Gerard nodded, smiling nervously back at her, “Um Gerard. My name’s Gerard. Way. Gerard Way.” He told her, inwardly cursing himself at how awkward he could tell he was being, stumbling over his words, his face heating up from embarrassment. It didn’t seem to put her off though and she smiled brightly at him before glancing back up at his work. 

“You’re a talented artist, Gerard Way.” She told him. People had told him that countless times before, he’d heard the exact same sentence from many different people over the years but it had always felt like a brush off statement before, like they didn’t really mean it. Not with her though, Gerard could tell she knew what she was talking about somehow, that she wasn’t just telling him what she thought he wanted to hear and it meant a lot to hear it from her. It made him blush again and he had to look down at the floor to hide it as he tried to think of something more profound to say than just another ‘thank you’. 

  
Except, when Gerard turned to look at her again, to say something, anything, she was gone. The space next to him where she had been standing was empty again, and his mystery woman was gone just as quickly as she had appeared. He stood there, staring at the empty space for a moment and trying to push away the rising feeling of disappointment. Maybe he’d taken too long to think of something to say, maybe his stumbling words and anxiousness had put her off in the end. Either way, she was gone and Gerard hadn’t even had a chance to learn her name.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by @vampirexchild, let us know what you guys think!

City lights amongst city nights were always one of the most beautiful sights. The stars gleaming and the glow from the buildings reaching towards the sky, giving a shimmer to any person's eye whenever they looked up. The soft breeze kissed their cheeks and skidded across their clothing. Rosy cheeks, beating hearts, young blood, all blurring into what the world called the human race. Lindsey admired the fragility of human nature from afar, quiet and contently, keeping to herself as she strolled through the city at night.    
  
Lindsey was restless. She roamed aimlessly, without a clear purpose, and walked until everyone was beginning to disappear from sight as the latest points of the night fell upon the world. Even then, certain areas still thrived with noise, cars sped across the damp streets, lights flickered from apartment buildings in a zigzag motion. The city never truly slept, the same going for every large territory thriving with business and entertainment. Lindsey was content to live in such an area because it made it easier for her to blend in; it was rare she shut her eyes whenever she may have ended up back at home after endless roaming, but in continuing to walk amongst the streets and enter random places to keep her attention set on one thing when she was sick of being stuck in her own thoughts, she became one of them.    
  
Although, the people who saw Lindsey might have thought she was more strange than she was quiet. She barely spoke anywhere she went, her slim body always adorned in black to match with her hair and her painted red lips. Her gaze was intense, and her senses captured it immediately whenever someone was staring at her. She fought not to stare back, but the struggle could not be met with the success of overcoming it, and she often made people nervous if she looked for too long. That was not her intent, but the predatory factor of her nature had humans shuffling away from her with unease.   
  
Other than that, she blended in just fine after anyone who had seen her got over the initial shock of her oddities and her unique beauty. She was the quiet ghost in the corner, pale and thoughtful, smiling whenever something particularly enjoyable came into her line of vision. Lindsey liked to observe the happiness of others as well, witnessing young love and the blossoming of friendship happening around her.   
  
Another night had come where Lindsey was walking again. She quietly called herself a nomad besides having a home to come back to whenever she pleased. Her thigh high black boots clicked softly against the ground whenever she took a step, the end of her long black dress hanging just an inch above the ground. It was a lovely night, the stars shining and the moon not quite full, but full enough to leave little to imagination. She could hear laughter and music from the bars she passed by, smell the bitter and sweet scent of alcohol and other beverages people were enjoying. She brushed by a mother holding the hand of her little girl, one who was staring at Lindsey with large blue eyes.   
  
"Look, mommy, a pretty lady!" She tugged her mother's sleeve, but she ignored her and kept walking. Lindsey smiled at her sweetly, waving, and continuing on.   
  
She didn't stop until she came across a neon orange flyer nailed to one of the lamp posts nearby. The bright color drew her attention immediately, along with the fact that the freshly printed flyer had been mounted on top of all the other faded papers hung up on the post. She floated over to it, reading the poster with intrigue.   
  
In all black font was the advertisement for an art showcase being held in a building just a few blocks from where she stood now. Only few artists were being showcased, but there was the promise of new, unseen art open for the public eye without a charge. Naturally, Lindsey was drawn to it. Art was one of her most favorite things to look at, any sort of art she could get her hands on. Being an on the low artist herself, showcases such as these were never missed and she admired all art she came across everywhere she went, such as paintings and photography hanging on the walls in restaurants. To her luck, the showcase was being held right about now. Smiling slightly, Lindsey turned on her heels and began walking towards the direction of the building.   
  
Before she entered the place, she could already hear the commotion coming from inside. People chattering, laughing, all talk of art and the antics of the artists showing off their pieces. It was alive inside, that much she knew, and she licked her lips at the scent that threatened to overwhelm her. Perhaps it was silly of her to enter a crowded place without feeding for the past few days, but she wasn't a rabid animal and her self control was much better than any other person of her kind gave her credit for.    
  
Entering the building, Lindsey was immediately swept away with how tense the atmosphere was, laying over the cheery and lively one. She sensed the anxiety coming from the artists, the critical nature coming from harsher observers, and the antsy aura coming from the wives at the arms of their husbands who wanted to leave already. Other than that, many others marveled at the paintings and sculptures being displayed, closed off with velvet ropes so people knew not to put their hands on the art. Lindsey's eyes swept around the room, landing on a piece with swirls of blue reminding her of the ocean. Already, she felt eyes on her, one stare in particular stronger than the others, but she discreetly brushed it aside and approached the row of paintings that intrigued her.    
  
The collection was in fact a sequence of the ocean, one rolling wave done in a set of oil paintings, and the artist's signature at the bottom right corner of each portrait. The woman who had done it all was standing in the center of a ring of formally dressed admirers, all speaking to her about her work and how admirable her piece upon the wall was. Lindsey's fingers brushed against the velvet rope keeping her from running her fingers across the surface of the oceanic blue colors. She felt the presence of the one intense gaze fixating on her finally break free, and being curious as she was, she glanced towards the direction it had came from through the corner of her eye.   
  
There was a man on the other side of the room standing by yet another display. He wasn't facing her, focused on what was in front of him. Lindsey was curious about the art she could see from where she stood, the bold colors mixing in with the dark a much more magnificent sight than the ocean she was previously enchanted by. She quietly made her way over until she stood in front of the velvet ropes and near the man, the one who had a nervous type of twitch to his hands.    
  
Lindsey titled her head to the side just a fraction as she studied the strokes of paint, the blending, the figures hidden within the artistic blur surrounding them all. Fascinating. The ghostly faces and the beautiful people spread around the portrait, and the odd colors used to lighten their features. It was a challenge to art, one that was done perfectly, and Lindsey couldn't bring herself to stop admiring it. She felt the man's eyes on her face again, sensing his shock from beside her, and it made her smile the slightest bit. Her eye's focus floated from painting to painting, sensing a theme to them despite all being different in their own way.   
  
"Beautiful." She said softly. Wondering if the nervous, curious man beside her would say something in return in regards to the work they were looking at.   
  
"Yes." The man breathed, his voice soft and higher pitched than the normal deep octave of a male. From the corner of her eye, Lindsey saw a sprouting of red rising to his face she had not studied yet, fueling her curiosity even further. He continued to speak. "I-I mean . . . thank you." He shuffled nervously.   
  
Lindsey laughed softly at his shy nature, and realized this gorgeous work of art must have belonged to him if he was thanking her for it. At last, she turned her head and let her gaze focus on the man. She drank in his chestnut colored shoulder length hair and the way the waves seemed to tangle together in a messy way, the soft pigment of his skin, his eyelashes almost touching the tops of his red, full cheeks as he looked down at the ground. He looked back up at her then, lashes fluttering anxiously.    
  
"This is yours?" Lindsey asked, her eyes flitting to the tiny signature at the bottom of the portraits.    
  
"Oh, yes." He smiled with his lips pressed firmly together, his head bobbing more exaggeratedly than necessary. "Um, Gerard. My name's Gerard Way. Gerard Way." His words tended to trip over themselves, and Lindsey would have had to been tuned out to not know his name by now. But she found Gerard's meekness endearing, the smile never leaving her face as she watched his dark olive green eyes widen slightly and his entire cherub face flushed the same red as the blood rushing under his cheeks.   
  
And the blood, undoubtedly holding an aroma of its own, was all Lindsey could smell. All the other scents in the room vanished in a second because of how strong this scent was, overpowering and claiming her inner monster's attention in such a violent way. The scent, warm and sweet and heavy, filled her nose and landed on her tongue to the point where she was tasting it; tugging the leg of her monster in the most teasing manner. She swallowed against the sudden unbearable dryness in her throat, thanking the stars for her ability to mask her hunger as an actor would fake their tears on a screen. She would have to cut her evening short or else she would be faced with a challenge for the first time in many years.    
  
"You're a very talented artist, Gerard Way." She said this a form of a goodbye, as she was not quite sure she would be able to linger for more than that. Lindsey spared him another soft smile, but he was looking away, face red from his blood lifting to color his skin, and she took this as her cue to leave.    
  
She quickly and quietly floated away from the space she had been standing and rushed to the exit, perhaps too quickly for any normal person to deem possible. She was a blur, rushing away and into the night to get as far away from temptation as she could. Lindsey's lungs filled with brand new air as she stepped out into the night. Nothing soothed the dryness in her throat that was quickly shifting into a burning sensation, one that would soon feel like the lining inside was cracking and peeling into pieces. She had been wrong in thinking skipping her meal for two days wouldn't affect her ability to go out and enjoy herself; yet again, she never came across a human who smelled so appetizing until now.    
  
Lindsey managed to carry herself home in time before she could sink her teeth into any innocent person or animal near her. There were times where she became ravenous, but only because she strived to test herself and see how long she could go without craving the slick fulfillment of blood. Nothing could sedate the monster, however, and starving it only killed her slowly. As soon as she flew into her house, she didn't bother to flick the lights on. She raced to the fridge, yanking it open, and pulling out the precious blood she kept stored safely inside.   
  
Normally, she would carefully slice the blood bag open and pour the red substance into a cup or mug, warm it to a certain temperature before she indulged slowly enough to mimic the full satisfaction three whole bags would bring her. Now, she had no patience as she ripped the thick plastic open with her freshly sharpened teeth, not caring if the blood was thickened from the cold the fridge gave it, and dove in like a true animal.   
  
The taste of the blood was enough for her to whine in contentment and choke down all that was inside the bag. Lindsey hated to feed this way, improperly and just like the monster she was, but desperate times called for desperate measures. The blood was too thick rushing down her throat. The flavor of heaven made up for it and the blistering burn in her throat was soothed. Lindsey drank two more bags, slowing down after the second one, and her thirst was finally sedated.   
  
There was blood dripping from her lips, to her chin and rolling down in slow beads to her pale neck. She wiped it all away with a paper towel before she threw away the remains of her binge into the garbage. She stared at the tiny dots of blood that had dripped onto the tiled floor, panting. Lindsey's fingers dug into the edges of the counter she leaned against. Never before had she been hit with such a sudden desire to feed, only when she starved herself to the point where she grew feral. No human controlled her thirst this way.   
  
One did now, and the scent of his blood was still ghosting at the tip of her tongue.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took me so long to update!

The rest of the night had passed by in a blur for Gerard. He had stood still in front of his painting after she had left him, a strange feeling passing over him that he couldn’t name. The crowd that had made him so nervous moments before had seemingly faded away when she had been stood next to him. And when she had disappeared from his side and into the night, the crowd came rushing back to him, almost tenfold. The sudden re-emergence of the people surrounding him was almost too much; the sound of the crowd chatting amongst themselves and the oppressive presence of people all around him overloaded his senses, making his hands shake a little as his anxiety returned and he turned to rush through the crowd towards the side door to finally have the cigarette that he had been craving all night. 

The events after that were fuzzy at best in his memory and altogether unremarkable. He’d stayed out in the little alley, leaning against the wall next to the side door he’d exited from, smoking for as long as he could. Even when the cool night air started to bite at his fingers a little too much and smoking no longer seemed to keep him warm. Gerard just shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed to himself as he stood there until his agent eventually came to find him and dragged him back inside. After that, the rest of the night seemed to go normally, just like any other art show. 

It was late when Gerard eventually got home from the gallery. He rubbed his fingers over his tired eyes as he dropped his keys onto the table by the door, dragging the same fingers through his hair to push the long strands out of his face. Since his rather long smoke break, he hadn’t had a moment of time alone and had been too caught up getting his pieces sold to let his mind wander back to the mysterious woman that had captivated him earlier. He thought he’d been able to forget about her. Now that he was alone though, it was clear that that would not be so easy. He thought back to the fleeting moment as he made his way up the stairs to his room, shedding his jacket as he went. 

It really was just a fleeting moment of conversation (if it could even be considered that) far too brief for Gerard to be so hung up on it or so taken with her. He didn’t even know her name after all; she’d disappeared as expeditiously as she’d entered it. But there was something about her, other than the fact she was incredibly beautiful, that Gerard just couldn’t put his finger on that drew him in and made it almost impossible for him to stop replaying that moment over and over again as he went through his usual night routine, readying himself for bed almost in a daze. He tried to push her from his mind though as he slid into bed but couldn’t help briefly wondering if he’d ever get to see her again. He didn’t get long to think about it though, exhausted from the show he was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. 

It was almost noon when he finally awoke and he was almost disappointed when he blinked his eyes open and rolled over onto his back, shutting his eyes again almost immediately to shield them from the sunlight shining in through a gap in the curtain at just the right angle to hit his eyes. That wasn’t the only reason he closed them again so soon though, he wanted to go back to sleep, back to the dream he’d been having. It had been a strange dream (most were) and only bits and pieces stuck with him enough for him to remember them once he was awake and even those would most likely fade from his memory as the day went on. Though he couldn’t remember most of it, he knew it had been about the woman from the art show. 

Gerard tried his best to drift back off to sleep but it was no use, he was still drowsy (and would be until he had some coffee) but he was to awake to fall back to sleep. So he gave up and sighed to himself as he lay there, thinking over the parts of the dream that he could remember. Most of the details eluded him but he knew the dream had started at the art show; those parts of his dream felt more like memories of the night before, of standing there in the crowd and feeling her ghost-like presence beside him. Except in his dream, when he looked over, she wasn’t there. Then the dream jumped again, and the rest of the details seemed to blur together, Gerard struggled to remember exactly what happened then but he knew he dreamt of the two of them meeting again. He couldn’t remember if they spoke in his dream or exactly what they did together. He probably only dreamt about her because he’d been thinking about her just before he went to sleep, still it was a strange dream and made no real sense, but then, Gerard supposed, dreams rarely did. 

When he opened his eyes again, Gerard sighed to himself and stared up at the ceiling, trying to shake the weird feeling the dream had given him. He couldn’t explain it really, what the feeling was or why he felt it. It was almost like he missed her except that was ridiculous because he barely knew her. In fact, apart from having thought about her just before falling asleep, Gerard thought it was pretty strange that he was dreaming about her at all and the more he thought about the whole situation, his dream seemed like just another strange addition to an even stranger situation. 

He dragged himself out of bed as he thought it over, scratching at his scruff covered jaw and shrugging on the white shirt he had worn the night before though he left it unbuttoned as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen and straight for the coffeemaker. As he waited for the coffee to brew, he replayed the events from the gallery once more in his head. At first, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now, it didn’t make sense how she had managed to disappear so quickly and seemingly into thin air. She’d been right there next to him one minute and gone the next; with how busy the crowd had been, even if she’d pushed through the crowd, Gerard was sure he would have seen her when he’d looked around to check. Gerard had been distracted but he hadn’t been  _ that  _ distracted; if he didn’t have cheques from the pieces he’d sold then he’d be tempted to assume it was all part of one big dream. It was the only thing that made sense, meeting her had definitely felt surreal and dreamlike, even if he knew it wasn’t. “Curiouser and curiouser.” Gerard mumbled to himself as he leant against the counter and sipped at the coffee he’d made for himself, hoping he’d be able to make sense of it all once he was no longer half asleep. 

Maybe the strangeness surrounding the situation was what made it so difficult for him to forget about it. Gerard knew it was unlikely he’d ever see her again, so he knew it was best that he just stop thinking about all the strange details. A fleeting and strange meeting with a stranger was all that he was going to get and that was what he needed to remember if he was going to be able to focus on getting back to work. Already, almost half a day had been wasted on mulling over things that he had no control over. Sure, it would have been nice to have learnt her name or found some way of contacting her again (being 40 and dedicated to his art got more than a little lonely at times) but Gerard knew he’d missed his chance and he needed to accept that. 

Staying in his house, left alone with his thoughts all day wasn’t going to help with that and he knew he probably had commissions to be working on. It was going to take at least a day to recuperate from the exhaustion of the show though and there were errands he needed to run; cheques to be cashed, supplies to be bought and maybe he could treat himself to an afternoon in a coffee shop somewhere. It wasn’t as relaxing as staying inside but it was better than sitting around moping about a lost chance with a beautiful woman so he smiled to himself as he worked out the plan for the rest of his day, downing the last of his coffee before quickly making another one and taking it upstairs with him to get dressed. 

It didn’t take long to get ready at all, since he was just running errands, he didn’t bother to put too much effort into how he looked; simply throwing on some jeans and a faded band shirt before making sure his hair didn’t look too terrible. It wasn’t much but then, Gerard wasn’t expecting to run into anyone and while there was a time, years ago, that he would have been much more self conscious about how he looked, that wasn’t the case anymore; nowadays he was much more concerned with comfort and ease so he was ready to leave within 15 minutes, downing his coffee and grabbing his keys and phone before heading out. 

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time Gerard arrived at the coffee shop; the sky just starting to darken, the deep blue hues would have been ideal for painting if he had been at home. But he wasn’t and had ended up spending much longer in the art store than he had originally planned to. The back of his car was now full with new canvases and paint pots and he’d bought a couple new sketchbooks too, most of which he’d actually needed so Gerard didn’t feel too bad for spending so much money in there. He’d debated with himself, after that, whether it was worth going to the coffee shop at all, whether or not he should go straight home instead of out to spend even more money, even if it was just coffee. But going home to an empty house was the last thing Gerard wanted to do right then and even if he was just going to end up sitting on his own, people-watching or sketching in the coffee shop sounded much more ideal than going home. So he made his way to the closest coffee shop after he left the art store, taking one of his new smaller sketchbooks in with him when he got there.

Luckily, the place wasn’t too busy. Though the place was open until fairly late, around 9 or so, most people usually came in during the day so it was unlikely to get much busier than it was. There were only a couple people sat around the tables, and there wasn’t much of a queue, and Gerard managed to get a seat by the window, taking his coffee to the table with a soft ‘thank you’ to the barista, getting himself settled with a good view of the street outside. Usually, after he finished an art show, it took him a while to recover and feel creative again but being out of his house all day and the soothing music being played in the coffee shop seemed to have the opposite effect and it wasn’t long before Gerard had the sketchbook open on his lap, doodling as he sipped his coffee. 

He doodled randomly for a while, running up a tab as he made his way through 2 mugs of coffee and a blueberry muffin, starting on his third mug as he used up the last of the space on the first page of the sketchbook. He flipped the page over, switching from random doodles to a sketch of his view of the street out of the window, glancing up once. It startled him a little once he looked up; it had been dusk when he had first sat down but was now dark, only the soft glow of the streetlamps lit up the pavement outside the window. Gerard hadn’t even realised it had been getting dark and for a moment he thought he ought to head home before the roads got too busy but it was too late and there was already a steady stream of people walking past the window, presumably on their way home from work. Rush hour had already started. Best to wait it out then, maybe even stay until closing. Besides, he’d just ordered a fresh mug of coffee that he still had to drink anyway. Sighing to himself and about to go back to his drawing, Gerard glanced out of the window one more time, taking a sip of his coffee as he looked out the window at the people walking past, frowning to himself when one person in particular caught his eye.

It was hard to tell for sure but Gerard was sure it was her. The woman from the art show. He froze, breath caught in his throat when he first caught sight of her. Only for a moment though, he quickly lost sight of her after someone walked in front of the window. Gerard had only seen her for a brief moment and after looking back out across the street where he thought he’d seen her once the person had passed and not seeing her again, he sighed, a little disappointed, managing to convince himself that he must have imagined seeing her again at all and sighing to himself as he looked back down at his drawing. 


End file.
